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Assuming all things are the same (same level firm, same type of work, etc.) which city would you pick and why? I cannot find a decent NYC/DC Pro/Con list and I know you all might have some thoughts on the matter! I have never lived in either city, but I have visited frequently so I have some background information.

D.C. has wide streets & low buildings. In D.C. many commute from the burbs. In D.C. traffic can be bad, but not as bad as NY. D.C. feels a little southern, whereas NY definitely does not.

Have you spent time in either place? That's how you should choose. I'd rather scoop out my eye balls with a melon baller than live in NYC, but that's just me. You either love NYC or you hate it. The onion article sums up my thoughts on NYC nicely

NEW YORK—At 4:32 p.m. Tuesday, every single resident of New York City decided to evacuate the famed metropolis, having realized it was nothing more than a massive, trash-ridden hellhole that slowly sucks the life out of every one of its inhabitants.

With audible murmurs of "This is no way to live," "What the hell am I doing here—I hate it here," and "Fuck this place. Fuck this horrible place," all 8.4 million citizens in each of the five boroughs packed up their belongings and told reporters they would rather blow their brains out with a shotgun than spend another waking moment in this festering cesspool of filth and scum and sadness.

By 5:15 p.m. there was gridlock traffic on the outbound sides of the Holland and Lincoln tunnels, and the area's three major airports were flooded with New Yorkers, all of whom said they wanted to go anyplace where the pressure of 20 million tons of concrete wasn't constantly suffocating them.

"I always had this perverted sense of pride because I was managing to scrape by here," said Brooklyn resident Andrew McQuade, who, after watching two subway rats gnawing on a third bloody rat carcass, finally determined that New York City was a giant sprawling cancer. "Well, fuck that. I don't need to pay $2,000 a month to share a doghouse-sized apartment with some random Craigslist dipshit to prove my worth. I want to live like a goddamn human being."

"You see this?" added McQuade, pointing at a real estate listing for a duplex in Hagerstown, MD. "Two bedrooms, two baths, a den—a fucking den—and a patio. Twelve hundred a month. That's total, not per person."

According to residents, the mass exodus was triggered by a number of normal, everyday New York City events. For Erin Caldwell of Manhattan, an endlessly honking car horn sent her over the edge, causing her to go into a blind rage and scream "shut up!" at the vehicle as loud as she could until her voice went hoarse; for Danny Tremba of Queens it was being cursed at for walking too slow; and for Paul Ogden, also of Queens, it was his overreaction to somebody walking too slow.

Other incidents that prompted citizens to pick up and leave included the sight of garbage bags stacked 5 feet high on the sidewalk; the realization that being alone among millions of anonymous people is actually quite horrifying; a blaring siren that droned on and fucking on; muddy, refuse-filled puddles that have inexplicably not dried in three years; the thought of growing into a person whose meanness and cynicism is cloaked in a kind of holier-than-thou brand of sarcasm that the rest of the world finds nauseating; and all the goddamn people.

In addition, 3 million New Yorkers reportedly left the city because they realized the phrase "Only in New York" is actually just a defense mechanism used to convince themselves that seeing a naked man take a shit on a park bench is somehow endearing, or part of some shared cultural experience.

"I was sitting on my stoop, drinking coffee, and out of nowhere this crazy-looking woman just starts screaming, 'I am inside all of you,' over and over," Bronx resident Sarah Perez, 37, said. "Then, we both had this moment where we looked at each other and realized, okay, we have to get out of here."

When fleeing New Yorkers were asked if they would miss the city's iconic landmarks, most responded that Central Park is just a pathetic excuse for experiencing actual nature, that the Brooklyn Bridge is great but it's just a fucking bridge, that nobody goes to the Met anyway, and that living in a dingy, grime-caked apartment while exhaust fumes from an idling truck seep through your bedroom window isn't worth slightly bigger bagels.

"This is no place to raise a kid, that's for sure," said 32-year-old Brandon Rushing, a lifelong New Yorker. "I grew up here and I turned into a giant asshole. Why would I want that for my son?"

"Plus, we're the place most likely to get nuked by a dirty bomb in a terrorist attack," he added. "So that's great. Also, it smells like shit here, and I'm not exaggerating. You'll just be walking around and it starts smelling like human shit, and it just fills your nostrils and you breathe in shit for like 20 seconds."

Before departing by private helicopter, Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke with members of the media to address the situation.

"You know what the greatest city in the world is?" Bloomberg asked reporters. "Scottsdale, Arizona. It's clean, it's not too big, it's got a couple streets with shops and restaurants, and the people there aren't fucking insane. This place is fucking insane. And by the way, that's not a reason to like it. Anyone who says that is a delusional dirtbag."

By Tuesday night, New York was completely abandoned. At press time, however, some 10 million Los Angeles–area residents, tired of their self-centered, laid-back culture and lack of four distinct seasons, and yearning for the hustle and bustle of East Coast life, had already begun repopulating the city.

a car is a bad move if you're living in manhattan or really even commuting from long island. i'm not super well connected so this is not a humble brag, but living in NYC you meet a lot of millionaires (the 400-600k a year type), and even they take public transit. i can't speak to washington, but it seems more spread out. wall street to madison square garden is literally just a 2 mile walk, and the drive is probably 30 minutes during rush hour so even if you can afford a driver why not just burn the 200 calories?

DC has small buildings. Many people live in Virginia or Maryland rather than the city. It's much smaller than New York. It shuts down much earlier. The metro runs basically every 20 minutes after 8pm and not at all after midnight. The summers are hotter and muggier than New York, if that were possible. It does more government/administrative work and less finance/corporate work. Most people I know living in DC live there for the type of work that's done there rather than because they like the city. Obviously that's anecdotal. Ultimately it comes down to your personal preferences.

NYC young people are aspiring artistic folks or aspiring corporate/banking/consulting drones. DC young people are aspiring world-savers or aspiring politicos. All those groups can be grating but you might prefer one to another.

NYC's bigger and harder to get out of when you want to go away. DC's smaller and you can live in a very urban or a fairly suburban place with a reasonable commute. Rents are higher in NYC, if only marginally, but you also get more space and amenities for your money in DC.

Personally, NYC feels like a more unique culture. It's hard to put your finger on what it is but the energy here is unlike anywhere else in the U.S., in my opinion. DC strikes me as a city that, politics and monuments aside, culturally could be Atlanta or Cleveland or something. Just a little less interesting and specific. That could be good or bad depending on your orientation. Certainly it has a lot to offer too.

Poster above me obviously knows little about DC. I agree about NYC being more the place for corporate/banking types and that you will find more public-spirited people in DC, but it's a gross overgeneralization to say DC young people are aspiring world-savers or politicos when there are also so many firms--law and lobbying-- representing business. There are many practice areas, such as antitrust and other areas of regulatory practice and enforcement, where DC is hands down the #1 place to be.

More importantly, I'm sort of shocked at the statement that DC "strikes me as a city that, politics and monuments aside, culturally could be Atlanta or Cleveland or something. Just a little less interesting and specific. That could be good or bad depending on your orientation." That just couldn't be further from the truth. Not going to waste my time explaining why. Also you can't just say "politics ... aside" and then deduce things about DC because politics and policy are so central to its culture and energy. To say the energy in NYC is "unlike anywhere else in the U.S." is not very helpful. The energy in DC is equally unlike anywhere else in the US, or the world for that matter.

I have heard many people say that they like how DC is more "manageable" than NYC in a number of ways. You can have the entire Metro map memorized, no problem. Btw, Metro is 10x cleaner in DC. The building height restrictions and the many old buildings with classic architecture are two more wonderful things about DC. I've heard many people who used to live in NYC describe it as a "grind" and express the sentiment that everyone is sort of more self-interested and self-absorbed than you find elsewhere.

ladeeda wrote:Poster above me obviously knows little about DC. I agree about NYC being more the place for corporate/banking types and that you will find more public-spirited people in DC, but it's a gross overgeneralization to say DC young people are aspiring world-savers or politicos when there are also so many firms--law and lobbying-- representing business. There are many practice areas, such as antitrust and other areas of regulatory practice and enforcement, where DC is hands down the #1 place to be.

You're being nitpicky. The poster generalized people in both DC and NYC, not just DC. Of course that characterization doesn't apply to everyone, but that doesn't make the generalizations wrong. If you live in DC you're going to be putting up with a lot of Capitol Hill types and it gets annoying, regardless of the amount of business people and lawyers who are around as well.

I grew up in DC--it has less culture than Atlanta in many ways. NYC itself is more than 10x larger than DC. Most of the population of the metro region lives in the suburbs and thinks about suburban things. Besides the big ticket items like the Smithsonion, etc, there is precious little. The food scene is a barren wasteland. I've never been to a major city (pop. 500k+) where a major hotel's headline restaurant was a chain establishment. The locals have no taste in food and think PF Changs is just great. There is such a huge population turnover from the transients that it's hard for any local businesses to build a loyal customer base, hence all the chains. People drink shitty beer.

It's not a terrible city. It has stuff. But in terms of culture even calling it Cleveland is a stretch. Cleveland is a lot less generic. Phoenix Arizona or one of the other cookie-cutter sunbelt construction boom cities is a better comparison.

ladeeda wrote:That just couldn't be further from the truth. Not going to waste my time explaining why.

ladeeda wrote:To say the energy in NYC is "unlike anywhere else in the U.S." is not very helpful.

I'll take "statements that aren't very helpful" for $100.

DC has always just struck me as having more of a suburban Anytown USA feel than NYC. There is obviously more to it than that, but half of the people on the Metro at any given time drove their cars to a parking lot in Maryland or Virginia first. For some that is appealing — more manageable, as you mention. But to me it is emblematic of a different, less urban kind of place.

It is very easy to get out of the city. You can get a zip car if you want to drive. Or you can take the train, the bus or the subway. I think you are going to have to post what you are looking for in a city I we know what to respond to. I have only lived in new York but it is extremely expensive. I don't know how the cost compares to DC.

sunynp wrote:It is very easy to get out of the city. You can get a zip car if you want to drive. Or you can take the train, the bus or the subway.

I actually disagree with this and it's one of my least favorite things about being in New York. It can be a huge hassle to get out. Zipcar or car rentals are really expensive and the traffic leaving the city any time you'd want to go (e.g., Friday evening in the summer) is obscene. You can get some places on Metro-North or LIRR fairly easily but that can be really limiting. There are some beautiful places outside NYC but psychologically they can feel quite far away.

Leaving late on friday or early Saturday morning works well. Where are you trying to go? Rental cars are expensive but I think it is worth it. You can take the subway or bus to a lot of beaches and parks too.

If you are single, NYC would be a better place. There are far more good restaurants and fun places to go. The night life is a lot more exciting. Many restaurants and bars don't close until late night or early morning. Restaurants in K-town even open 24/7. You probably don't need to cook at all. The subway system can get you pretty much anywhere. In terms of $$, NYC is definitely a lot more expensive. Studio is around 2500/month and 1 bedroom is around $3000/month. If you live in Queens/Brooklyn, rent will be a little cheaper and you get more space for your money, but you will have a longer commute. You also pay a city tax on top of the federal and state tax.

However, if you are married or have kids, I would not recommend NYC. Unless you are rich, there are simply not enough living space to raise a family. Grocery is expensive. With the time and money you spend making food, it's better to just get delivery. And forget about owning a car in Manhattan. Zip-car is a far more economical choice if you ever need to drive.

DC, on the other hand, is much better for raising a family. The rent is cheaper, you can get a nice 2 bed apt for <$3000/month in DC metro area. Owning a car is also possible. Once you have kids, you can move to one of the nearby suburbs in Virginia or Maryland, where there are some great school districts.

sunynp wrote:Leaving late on friday or early Saturday morning works well. Where are you trying to go? Rental cars are expensive but I think it is worth it. You can take the subway or bus to a lot of beaches and parks too.

That's true, there are a lot of underrated places nearby (Long Beach, Riis Park etc.). The longer I'm in NYC the more frustrating I find it to feel so restricted, though, or to have to throw down a lot of money just to get a car for a weekend. But whenever I'm away I miss being able to walk or take the train everywhere. It's a double-edged sword. These are good examples though of why I think life in New York is different from anywhere else in the U.S., DC included. It's perfect for some, and for them nowhere else will suffice.